This study aimed to investigate dietary concentrate:forage ratios (C:F) and undegraded dietary protein (UDP) on nitrogen balance and urinary excretion of purine derivatives (PD) in lambs. Four Dorperthin-tailed Han crossbred castrated lambs with kg body weight at 10 months of age were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments in a factorial arrangement of two levels of C:F (40:60 and 60:40) and two levels of UDP (35% and 50% of CP), according to a complete Latin-square design. Each experimental period lasted for 19 d. After a 7-d adaptation period, lambs were moved into individual metabolism crates for 12 d including 7 d of adaption and 5 d of metabolism trial. During the metabolism trial, total urine was collected for 24 h and spot urine samples were also collected at different times. Urinary PD was measured using a colorimetric method and creatinine was measured using an automated analyzer. Intake of dry matter (DM) (p<0.01) and organic matter (OM) (p<0.01) increased as the level of UDP decreased. Fecal N was not affected by dietary treatment (p>0.05) while urinary N increased as the level of UDP decreased (p<0.05), but decreased as dietary C:F increased (p<0.05). Nitrogen retention increased as dietary C:F increased (p<0.05). As dietary C:F increased, urinary excretion of PD increased (p<0.05), but was not affected by dietary UDP (p>0.05) or interaction between dietary treatments (p>0.05). Daily excretion of creatinine was not affected by dietary treatments (p<0.05), with an average value of mmol/kg . A linear correlation was found between total PD excretion and PDC index (

Samples of Clitoria ternatea L. (Cunh) were harvested at 35, 50, 70, and 90 d after a uniformity harvest in a field study designed as a completely randomized design with a total of 18 experimental plots. The dry matter yield of the whole plant was separated quantitatively into leaves, stems, and pods at each harvesting age. Chemical analyses and in vitro gas production kinetics were performed to assess the quality of the plant parts. Yields, chemical composition, and estimates of gas production parameters were analyzed by fitting a mixed statistical model with two types of covariance structures as follows: variance components and an unrestricted structure with heterogeneous variances. Fast and slow gas yielding pools were detected for both leaves and stems, but only a single pool was detected for pods. The homoscedasticity assumption was more likely for all variables, except for some parameters of the gas production kinetics of leaves and stems. There was no presence of typical pods at 35 and 50 d. In the leaves, the fibrous fractions were affected, whereas the non-fibrous fractions were unaffected by the harvesting age. The harvesting age affected the majority of the chemical constituents and gas kinetic parameters related to the stems. The leaves of this legume were the least affected part by the aging process.

This study aimed to investigate the diversity of the Butyrivibrio group bacteria in goat rumen and its response to garlic oil (GO) supplementation as revealed by molecular analysis of cloned 16S rRNA genes. Six wethers fitted with ruminal fistulas were assigned to two groups for a cross-over design with 28-d experimental period and 14-d interval. Goats were fed a basal diet without (control) or with GO ruminal infusion (0.8 g/d). Ruminal contents were used for DNA extraction collected before morning feeding on d 28. A total bacterial clone library was firstly constructed by nearly full-length 16S rRNA gene cloned sequences using universal primers. The resulting plasmids selected by Butyrivibrio-specific primers were used to construct a Butyrivibrio group-specific bacterial clone library. Butyrivibrio group represented 12.98% and 10.95% of total bacteria in control and GO group, respectively. In libraries, clones were classified to the genus Pseudobutyrivibrio, Butyrivibrio and others within the family Lachnospiraceae. Additionally, some specific clones were observed in GO group, being classified to the genus Ruminococcus and others within the family Ruminococcaceae. Based on the criterion that the similarity was 97% or greater with database sequences, there were 29.73% and 18.42% of clones identified as known isolates (i.e. B. proteoclasticus and Ps. ruminis) in control and GO groups, respectively. Further clones identified as B. fibrisolvens (5.41%) and R. flavefaciens (7.89%) were specifically found in control and GO groups, respectively. The majority of clones resembled Ps. ruminis (98% to 99% similarity), except for Lachnospiraceae bacteria (87% to 92% similarity) in the two libraries. The two clone libraries also appeared different in Shannon diversity index (control 2.47 and GO group 2.91). Our results indicated that the Butyrivibrio group bacteria had a complex community with considerable unknown species in the goat rumen.

As a result of the cost of grains, the replacement of grains by co-products (i.e. DDGS) in feedlot diets is a common practice. This change produces diets that contain a lower amount of starch and greater amount of fibre. Hypothetically, combining feed grade urea (U) with slow release urea (Optigen) in this type of diet should elicit a better synchrony between starch (high-rate of digestion) and fibre (low-rate of digestion) promoting a better microbial protein synthesis and ruminal digestion with increasing the digestible energy of the diet. Four cannulated Holstein steers ( kg) were used in a Latin square design to examine the combination of Optigen and U in a finishing diet containing different starch:acid detergent fibre ratios (S:F) on the characteristics of digestive function. Three S:F ratios (3.0, 4.5, and 6.0) were tested using a combination of U (0.80%) and Optigen (1.0%). Additionally, a treatment of 4.5 S:F ratio with urea (0.80% in ration) as the sole source of non-protein nitrogen was used to compare the effect of urea combination at same S:F ratio. The S:F ratio of the diet was manipulated by replacing the corn grain by dried distillers grain with solubles and roughage. Urea combination did not affect ruminal pH. The S:F ratio did not affect ruminal pH at 0 and 2 h post-feeding but, at 4 and 6 h, the ruminal pH decreased as the S:F ratio increased (linear, p<0.05). Ruminal digestion of OM, starch and feed N were not affected by urea combination or S:F ratio. The urea combination did not affect ADF ruminal digestion. ADF ruminal digestion decreased linearly (p

This study investigated the chemical composition and ruminal degradability of corn stover in three maize-planting regions in Qiqihaer, Heilongjiang Province, China. The whole stover was separated into seven morphological fractions, i.e., leaf blade, leaf sheath, stem rind, stem pith, stem node, ear husk, and corn tassel. The assessment of nutritive value of corn stover and its fractions was performed based on laboratory assays of the morphological proportions, chemical composition, and in situ degradability of dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF). The chemical composition of corn stover was significantly different from plant top to bottom (p<0.05). Among the whole corn stover and seven morphological fractions, leaf blade had the highest crude protein (CP) content and the lowest NDF and ADF contents (p<0.05), whereas stem rind had the lowest CP content and the highest ADF and acid detergent lignin (ADL) contents (p<0.05). Ear husk had significantly higher NDF content and relatively lower ADL content than other corn stover fractions. Overall, the effective degradability of DM, NDF, and ADF in rumen was the highest in leaf blade and stem pith, followed by ear husk. The results indicate that leaf blade, ear husk, and stem pith potentially have higher nutritive values than the other fractions of corn stover. This study provides reference data for high-efficiency use of corn stover in feeding ruminants.

This study was conducted to evaluate the ensiling characteristics and the in situ degradability of a by-product feed (BF)-based silage. Before ensilation, the BF-based mixture was composed of 50% spent mushroom substrate, 21% recycled poultry bedding, 15% ryegrass straw, 10.8% rice bran, 2% molasses, 0.6% bentonite, and 0.6% microbial inoculant on a wet basis and ensiled for up to 4 weeks. The BF-based silage contained on average 39.3% moisture, 13.4% crude protein (CP), and 52.2% neutral detergent fiber (NDF), 49% total digestible nutrient, and 37.8% physically effective on a dry matter (DM) basis. Ensiling the BF-based silage for up to 4 weeks affected (p<0.01) the chemical composition to a small extent, increased (p<0.05) the lactic acid and -N content, and decreased (p<0.05) both the total bacterial and lactic acid bacterial counts from to cfu/g when compared to that before ensiling. These parameters indicated that the silage was fermented and stored well during the 4-week ensiling period. Compared with rice or ryegrass straws, the BF-based silage had a higher (p<0.05) water-soluble and filterable fraction, a lower insoluble degradable DM and CP fraction (p<0.05), a lower digestible NDF (p<0.05) fraction, a higher (p<0.05) DM and CP disappearance and degradability rate, and a lower (p<0.05) NDF disappearance and degradability rate. These results indicated that cheap, good-quality BF-based roughage could be produced by ensiling SMS, RPB, rice bran, and a minimal amount of straw.

The present study was conducted to estimate the NE values of corn, dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) and wheat bran (WB) for laying hens based on an indirect calorimetry method and nitrogen balance measurements. A total of 576 twenty-eight-wk-old Dwarf Pink-shell laying hens were randomly assigned to four groups fed a basal diet (BD) or a combination of BD with 50% corn or 20% DDGS or 20% WB, with four replicates each. After a 7-d adaptation period, each replicate with 36 hens were kept in one of the two respiration chambers to measure the heat production (HP) for 6 days during the feeding period and subsequent 3-d fasting. The equilibrium fasting HP (FHP) provided an estimate of NE requirements for maintenance (NEm). The NE values of test feedstuffs was estimated using the difference method. Results showed that the heat increment that contributed 35.34 to 37.85% of ME intake was not influenced by experimental diets (p>0.05) when expressed as Mcal/kg of DM feed intake. Lighting increased the HP in hens in an fed-state. The FHP decreased over time (p<0.05) with the lowest value determined on the third day of starvation. No significant difference between treatments was found on FHP of d 3 (p>0.05). The estimated AME, AMEn, and NE values were 3.46, 3.44 and 2.25 Mcal/kg DM for corn, 3.11, 2.79, and 1.80 Mcal/kg DM for DDGS, 2.14, 2.10, and 1.14 Mcal/kg DM for WB, respectively. The net availability of AME of corn tended to be numerically higher than DDGS and WB (p

A total of 150 growing ducks were assigned to five dietary treatments to study the effect of sea tangle and charcoal (STC) supplementation on growth performance and meat characteristics in a completely randomized design. There were six replicates and five ducklings in each replication. The five dietary treatments were control, antibiotic, and 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1% STC supplemented diets. No significant differences were found on ADG, ADFI, and gain:feed among treatments in different weeks. The overall (0 to 3 weeks) ADFI decreased in antibiotic treatment (p<0.05) whereas the gain:feed increased significantly upon 1.0% STC supplementation compared to control (p<0.05). No significant variation was found in meat chemical composition except crude fat content which was high in 1.0% STC dietary group (p<0.05). Meat cholesterol was reduced in 0.1% STC group (p<0.05) compared to other dose levels while serum cholesterol was unaffected. High density lipoprotein (HDL) content was high in 1.0% STC (p<0.05) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) was low in 0.1% and 1.0% STC dietary groups (p

Three trials were conducted to evaluate the effect of supplementation of a basal diet with benzoic acid or thymol or a mixture of essential oil blends (MEO) or a combination of benzoic acid with MEO (BMEO) on growth performance of turkey poults. Control groups were fed a basal diet. In trial 1, benzoic acid was supplied at levels of 300 and 1,000 mg/kg. In trial 2, thymol or the MEO were supplied at levels of 30 mg/kg. In trial 3, the combination of benzoic acid with MEO was evaluated. Benzoic acid, MEO and BMEO improved performance, increased lactic acid bacteria populations and decreased coliform bacteria in the caeca. Thymol, MEO and BMEO improved antioxidant status of turkeys. Benzoic acid and BMEO reduced the buffering capacity compared to control feed and the pH values of the caecal content. Benzoic acid and EOs may be suggested as an effective alternative to AGP in turkeys.

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of feeding an Escherichia coli (E. coli) derived phytase to pigs fed P deficient, corn-soybean meal diets. In Exp. 1, one hundred and twenty crossbred piglets ( kg) were allocated to one of five treatments which consisted of four low P diets (0.61% Ca, 0.46% total P and 0.24% non-phytate P) supplemented with 0, 500, 1,000, or 20,000 FTU/kg E. coli phytase as well as a positive control formulated to be adequate in all nutrients (0.77% Ca, 0.62% total P and 0.42% non-phytate P). The treatments were applied to six pens with four pigs per pen for 28 days. In Exp. 2, ten crossbred pigs ( kg) fitted with ileal T-cannula were used in a nutrient balance study. The pigs were assigned to treatments similar to those used in Exp. 1 in a doubly replicated incomplete Latin square design (5 diets with 4 periods). Each period consisted of a 5-d adjustment period followed by a 3-d total collection of feces and urine and then a 2-d collection of ileal digesta. Supplementation with phytase linearly increased (p<0.05) weight gain, feed intake, feed efficiency, bone breaking strength and fat-free dry and ash bone weight. There were linear increases (p<0.01) in the apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of DM, GE, CP, Ca, total P, inositol hexaphosphate () and some AA with increasing dose of E. coli phytase. Pigs fed 20,000 FTU/kg had a greater (p<0.05) AID of IP6 (80% vs 59% or 64%, respectively) than pigs fed diets with 500 or 1,000 FTU/kg phytase. There were linear increases (p<0.05) in the total tract digestibility of Ca, total P, Na, K, Mg, and Zn as well as in the retention of Mg and Zn with increased phytase dose. The retention and utilization of Cu, and the total tract digestibility of CP and Cu quadratic increased (p<0.05) with increased phytase dose. In conclusion, supplementation of 500 FTU of phytase/kg and above effectively hydrolyzed phytate in low-P corn-soybean diets for pigs. In addition, a super dose of phytase (20,000 FTU/kg) hydrolyzed most of the IP6 and consequently further improved mineral use, protein utilization and performance.

Consumers have become very conscious about their nutrition and well being due to changes in their socio-economic lifestyle and rapid urbanization. Therefore, development of technology for production of low cost and functional meat products is urgently required. One such approach is innovative restructuring technology in which binding of meat pieces still remains the main challenge and extension of product is generally associated with poor binding and texture. Thus, the present study was envisaged as an attempt to solve this problem by the incorporation of flaxseed flour (FF) as bind enhancing agent. The FF was used at three different levels viz., 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% to replace lean meat in pre-standardized restructured mutton chops formulation. The products were subjected to analysis for physico-chemical, sensory and textural properties. Cooking yield, moisture percentage and fat percentage increased with increase in the level of incorporation of FF, however, protein percent and pH decreased with increase in the level of incorporation. Shear force value of product incorporated with 1.5% FF was significantly higher (p<0.01) than control and product containing 0.5% FF level. Among the sensory attributes, product with 1% flaxseed flour showed significantly higher values (p<0.05) for general appearance, binding, texture and overall acceptability. Hardness showed significant increasing (p<0.01) values with increasing levels of incorporation of flaxseed flour, however all other parameters of texture profile analysis showed a decreasing trend. On the basis of sensory scores and physico-chemical properties, the optimum incorporation level of FF was adjudged as 1%. Products incorporated with optimum level of flaxseed flour (1%) were also assessed for water activity and microbiological quality during the storage period of 15 days. It was found that the extended restructured product could be safely stored under refrigeration () in low density polyethylene (LDPE) pouches for 15 days without marked deterioration in sensory and microbiological quality. Thus, it was concluded that flaxseed flour can be used as a good bind enhancing agent in extended restructured meat products at an economic cost.

This study was conducted to evaluate the combined effect of high pressure (HP) with the addition of soy sauce and/or olive oil on the quality and safety of chicken breast meats. Samples were cut into 100 g pieces and 10% (w/w) of soy sauce (SS), 10% (w/w) of olive oil (OO), and a mixture of both 5% of soy sauce and 5% olive oil (w/w) (SO) were pressurized into meat with high pressure at 300 or 600 MPa. Cooking loss was lower in OO samples than SS samples. With increased pressure to 600 MPa, the oleic acid content of OO samples increased. The total unsaturated fatty acids were the highest in SO and OO 600 MPa samples. Lipid oxidation was retarded by addition of olive oil combined with HP. The addition of olive oil and soy sauce followed by HP decreased the amount of volatile basic nitrogen during storage and reduced the population of pathogens. Sensory evaluation indicated that the addition of olive oil enhanced the overall acceptance and willingness to buy. In conclusion, the combination of HP with the addition of soy sauce and/or olive oil is an effective technology that can improve chemical, health, sensory qualities and safety of chicken breast.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) has generally demonstrated that a differentiated cell can convert into a undifferentiated or pluripotent state. In the SCNT experiment, nuclear reprogramming is induced by exposure of introduced donor nuclei to the recipient cytoplasm of matured oocytes. However, because the efficiency of SCNT still remains low, a combination of SCNT technique with the ex-ovo method may improve the normal development of SCNT embryos. Here we hypothesized that treatment of somatic cells with extracts prepared from the germinal vesicle (GV) stage Siberian sturgeon oocytes prior to their use as nuclear donor for SCNT would improve in vitro development. A reversible permeability protocol with of digitonin for 2 min at in order to deliver Siberian sturgeon oocyte extract (SOE) to porcine fetal fibroblasts (PFFs) was carried out. As results, the intensity of H3K9ac staining in PFFs following treatment of SOE for 7 h at was significantly increased but the intensity of H3K9me3 staining in PFFs was significantly decreased as compared with the control (p<0.05). Additionally, the level of histone acetylation in SCNT embryos at the zygote stage was significantly increased when reconstructed using SOE-treated cells (p<0.05), similar to that of IVF embryos at the zygote stage. The number of apoptotic cells was significantly decreased and pluripotency markers (Nanog, Oct4 and Sox2) were highly expressed in the blastocyst stage of SCNT embryos reconstructed using SOE-treated cells as nuclear donor (p<0.05). And there was observed a better development to the blastocyst stage in the SOE-treated group (p<0.05). Our results suggested that pre-treatment of cells with SOE could improve epigenetic reprogramming and the quality of porcine SCNT embryos.

Cecropins (Cec) are antibacterial peptides and their expression is induced in a pig intestinal parasite Ascaris suum by bacterial infection. To explore the usefulness of its activity as an antibiotic, CecP4 cDNA was prepared and cloned into the pPICZ B expression vector and followed by the integration into AOX1 locus in Pichia pastoris. The supernatants from cell culture were collected after methanol induction and concentrated for the test of antimicrobial activity. The recombinant P. patoris having CecP4 showed antimicrobial activity when tested against Staphyllococcus aureus in disc diffusion assay. We selected one of the CecP4 clones (CecP4-2) and performed further studies with it. The growth of recombinant P. pastoris was optimized using various concentration of methanol, and it was found that 2% methanol in the culture induced more antibacterial activity, compared to 1% methanol. We extended the test of antimicrobial activity by applying the concentrated supernatant of CecP4 culture to Pseudomonas aeruginosa and E. coli respectively. Recombinant CecP4 also showed antimicrobial activity against both Pseudomona and E. coli, suggesting the broad spectrum of its antimicrobial activity. After improvements for the scale-up, it will be feasible to use recombinant CecP4 for supplementation to the feed to control microbial infections in young animals, such as piglets.

The experiment was conducted to evaluate the ingestive behavior of lambs confined in individual and group stalls. We used thirty-four lambs in their growing phase, aged an average of three months, with mean initial live weight of kg. They were allotted in a completely randomized design with 24 animals kept in individual stalls and 10 animals confined as a group. The experiment lasted for a total of 74 days, and the first 14 days were dedicated to the animals` adaption to the management, facilities and diets. The data collection period lasted 60 days, divided into three 20-d periods for the behavior evaluation. The animals were subjected to five days of visual observation during the experiment period, by the quantification of 24 h a day, with evaluations on the 15th day of each period and an interim evaluation consisting of two consecutive days on the 30th and 31st day of the experiment. The animals confined as a group consumed less (p<0.05) fiber. However, the animals confined individually spent less (p<0.05) time on feeding, rumination and chewing activities and longer in idleness. Therefore, the lower capacity of lambs confined in groups to select their food negatively affects their feeding behavior.

The first purpose of this review is to outline some of the background information necessary to understand the mechanisms of action of fibre-degrading enzymes in non-ruminants. Secondly, the well-known and understood mechanisms are described, i) eliminating the nutrient encapsulating effect of the cell wall and ii) ameliorating viscosity problems associated with certain Non Starch Polysaccharides, particularly arabinoxylans and -glucans. A third, indirect mechanism is then discussed: the activity of such enzymes in producing prebiotic oligosaccharides and promoting beneficial cecal fermentation. The literature contains a wealth of information on various non starch polysaccharide degrading enzyme (NSPase) preparations and this review aims to conclude by discussing this body of work, with reference to the above mechanisms. It is suggested that the way in which multi- versus single-component products are compared is often flawed and that some continuity should be employed in methods and terminology.